64 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



pests only to be restocked by his neiij'hbors. The principal thing 

 needed, he said, in the renovation of old orchards was the renova- 

 tion of old farmers. 



^Nlr. Richards called attention to the practice of thinning apples 

 and snggested that the lecturer must thin his ap])les in order to get 

 fruit that would bring ten dollars a l)arrel. He had grown a Bald- 

 win apple that measured one foot in circumference but it was the 

 only one on the tree. 



In reply to the question of thinning fruit Mr. Powell stated that 

 it Avould hardly pay to go up too high in thinning and also in trim- 

 ming trees, and that this question of thinning was quite a problem 

 especially in regard to large trees. The expense of the work was 

 out of }~)ro]')ortion to the advantages gained. He was avoiding this 

 himself by propagating half-dwarf stock, trees that would not 

 attain a height of more than fifteen feet and thus were in easy 

 reach for spraying, trimming, and thinning. He had planted 

 hundreds of these and they were proving a great success, and that 

 is where he was getting his fine fruit. He thought the Doucin 

 stock a very hopeful tree and could be planted 110 to the acre. 

 The cost of picking apples from very high trees was twenty cents a 

 barrel while from low-headed trees it was but seven cents. 



Mr. Hutchins stated that he had planted 150 dwarf trees as fillers 

 in an orchard of standards. 



^Yilfrid Wheeler asked if the lecturer had ever tried hogs in the 

 orchard. 



Mr. Powell replied that he had and that it was a benefit to an 

 old orchard on level land to let the hogs into it, it was better than 

 sheep, but for a hillside orchard sheej) were better than pigs. 



The lecturer further stated in reply to questions that if he could 

 have his choice of time it was best to prune trees in May or June. 

 The effect of scraping trees was on the whole good. It destroyed 

 quite a number of insects, but the scraping should not be too heavy 

 or deep. Trees with hollow bodies could be filled uj) with cement 

 and thus saved for many years. Before filling the insides the cavi- 

 ties should be thoroughly sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. 



In reply to the question, What is the Doucin, or half-dwarf tree, 

 and what is the dwarf or Paradise stock? ]\Ir. Powell said that 

 the Doucin is a native crab of France which, when budded, would 



